Welcome to the second of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity System Reviews, where we choose a complete home theater setup and evaluate it for continuity, system synergy and to take some of the guesswork out of buying a complete home theater system and wondering if it all will work together seamlessly. We hope to hit all of the speed bumps so you don't have to.

This system falls into the Medium ($2,501 - $5,000 MSRP) category, and we think systems in this category offer some of the best performance/price without sacrificing too much.

Please help us develop these reviews by posting comments at the end of this review about what you like or didn't and what else you'd like to see in the next one. If you're thinking it, chances are, you're not alone. Even better yet, join us at the CAVE and post your thoughts on the Really Affordable System Forum.

System Description and Background

Yamaha, as a company, needs little introduction. Its beginnings were in the late 1800's with reed organs and early 20th century with upright pianos, harmonicas, organs and many other musical instruments. The company has grown into a powerhouse of electronics development and is sold through many outlets, both big box and custom install.

Phase Technology, on the other hand, began as a company in 1981, and they have been an OEM manufacturer since 1955. They have an impressive list of patents and the complete history can be read here: http://www.phasetech.com/history.html. Phase Tech prides itself on building unique speakers with price-no-object performance at a price that will not scare away people before they get to audition them. One reason many people may have not heard of them is that they use a fairly limited dealer network, in fact, the nearest dealer I know of is in San Antonio, more than 90 miles away from my home in central Texas. Teatro, meaning "theater" in Italian, has become synonymous with things that either relate to live theater, music, fine dining or all three. This review focuses on the first two.

The review system consisted of the Yamaha RX-V2065 receiver, the Yamaha BD-1065 Blu-ray player, a Phase Tech Teatro PC-3.0 soundbar, two Phase Tech Teatro surround IIs, and a Phase Tech Power FL-8 subwoofer.

Price Range:Medium ($2,501 - $5,000 MSRP)

System MSRP: $4740.00

System Street Price: ~ $4200.00

System Rating:

Our criteria for rating systems is shown below. Click on the graphic to see the full sized version.